


You Don't Need A Catchy Song

by Lilas (pegasus_01)



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-11-21
Updated: 2010-11-21
Packaged: 2017-10-13 07:55:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/134941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pegasus_01/pseuds/Lilas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five different ringtones Danny assigned to Steve.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Don't Need A Catchy Song

**Author's Note:**

> Notes: So, a million years ago (a little over a month) when the fandom first started, alicebluegown16 posted a [prompt](http://h50ficmeme.livejournal.com/1238.html?thread=2518#t2518) for ringtones Danny has for Steve. After wrestling with it, I present it to you in all its unbeta'ed glory. Please let me know if you find any errors!  
> C&C appreciated!
> 
> Title from [Michael Buble "Hollywood"](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dr0LCzqvOqw)

1.

Steve chewed at the end of his pencil as he read over the meager evidence they had collected up to now. There was something there he wasn’t seeing. Some pattern, some connection between the drug dealer’s murder and last week’s diamond heist. He sighed in frustration and leaned down to bang his head on his desk. Times like these made him miss the Navy.

At least there he could have gone in guns a-blazing and just arrested or killed everyone he suspected to be involved. He didn’t have to worry about all these warrant requirements and probable cause shit and whether the evidence or the confession would be admissible in court. Go in, get what he wanted, win the day. God, sometimes he missed that so badly he’d had serious thoughts about forgetting this whole task force thing and just run back to the armed forces with his tail between his legs and beg them to take him back.

But then he’d see Kono lounging around the corridor, shooting at the dart board and laughing hysterically at something Danno had said while Chin watched them from the hallway couch and he’d remember. His father might be dead now, but he’d gained something he hadn’t had since his mother had died. Ohana – a family.

Or, at the very least, the beginnings of one. He groaned and banged his head against his desk again as he remembered the argument Danny and he had gotten into earlier in the week. It’d been a month since he’d trampled on and sabotaged Danny’s investigation on his father’s murder, and things were still more down than up. This time the argument had started because Steve had started rummaging around the garage as Danny was cuffing one of their suspects. The outright explosion that had come from his partner when he’d looked up and seen Steve looking through a box had had Steve backing up with his hands up faster than he could say aloha. And then he’d had to hear a half hour lecture about warrants and admissibility of evidence in court and how he was fucking up the entire investigation.

That had resulted in Kono and Chin having to run interference between the two of them for hours as they glared and refused to utter a word to one another. After that, Steve had stayed up late for the rest of the week reading up on warrant requirements and all the legal bullshit he’d never had to worry about before. That had only ended up giving him an ulcer when he’d realized he’d have to change his entire modus operandi if he actually wanted to put these guys behind bars. Fuck his life.

And now here he was, trying to be a good little detective and trying to gather enough evidence so a magistrate judge would give them a goddamn search warrant to look around a scumbag’s fucking chop shop for the dealer’s murder weapon and any other evidence that might link back to the heist. And it was killing him. He knew the son of a bitch was involved, and he knew they’d find what they wanted at his place, but fuck if they didn’t have to actually show it to a judge before they could go in and get what they wanted. Sometimes he just wished he could go back in time and shoot the founding fathers in the ass.

He let out a sigh and turned his head so his cheek lay on the polished wood, enjoying the view of his bare walls for an instant. Maybe he should call it quits for the day. Everyone else had already gone home and he didn’t think he’d be able to see the connections tonight. Everything had started to blur. Slowly, he refocused his eyes on the object near his nose and saw his cell phone. Maybe Danny would still be awake and would be up for grabbing a beer or something.

With his mind made up, he fumbled with his cell phone and hit the speed dial to his partner’s number. He waited silently for the phone to connect and just as he heard the first tone he also heard music coming from the hallway. His curiosity peaked, he got up, phone still to his ear, and stepped out into the corridor. There was a loud bang from Dan’s office, as if someone had fallen on the floor, quickly followed by a string of curses. Meanwhile, his phone continued to ring and the music continued to play. Steve smirked when he recognized the song and made his way to Danno’s office, planting himself at the door frame and watching as the man rummaged around his messy desk, looking for his phone.

“So,” he drawled as Danny found the offending piece of technology and was about to hit the send button. “The Imperial March? Really, Danno?”

Dan looked up, surprised, blond hair a mess and blue eyes rimmed red with sleep. Steve’s smirk widened as he watched his partner throw the phone back on the table and stumble back to the small couch at the opposite end of his office.

“You have to admit, Steve. You have a bit of Vader in you,” the man replied nonchalantly as he sprawled back down on the uncomfortable looking piece of furniture.

“I feel like I should be insulted by your choice of ringtone for me, Danno.”

“Nah,” the man dismissed. “Vader was kind of a badass. And, you know, in the end he went back to the light side. It just shows how much faith I have in you.”

Steve’s eyebrow went up at that. “Well, that’s sort of convoluted.” He waited a beat, watching as Danny attempted to curl back onto the couch. “Man, come on. I’ll take you home. You are not sleeping on that thing tonight.”

Danny groaned. “Yeah, okay. But remind me later that we need better couches. Because I have a feeling this is going to be happening a lot.”

Steve nodded at the sage advice. “Noted. Now come on, Solo.”

Steve grinned at Danny’s smirk as they made their way out the office.

 

2.

Steve let out a long string of expletives as the bullet ricocheted off the wooden crate he had chosen as his cover and splinters rained down on him. He dared to take a peek around the edge of the box and only his quick reflexes saved him from getting shot in the face. God fucking damn it! Now he was royally pissed. The entire operation had gone down the drain and into the sewers faster than a speeding bullet and all he wanted to do was kill someone. Preferably the man shooting at him.

The whole mess had started two weeks ago when the team had been called to lead the investigation into the double murder of a CEO and his secretary. At first it had seemed like a waste of the elite team’s time. He and Kono had both agreed that the most likely culprit was the CEO’s wife, especially after they’d caught her trying to leave the island with a bag full of cash. But Danny hadn’t bought it, and neither had Chin. The two had ganged up against Steve and Kono and stopped him from closing the investigation.

When Steve had asked why, Danny had just told him he had a feeling. Sometimes Steve wished he could just shove Dan’s gut feelings off a building and watch them splatter on the pavement. He was slowly coming to realize that nothing good ever came from Dan having gut feelings about a case. In this particular instance, the bad feeling had resulted in Dan’s sudden, and vocal disappearance. Vocal because when he was taken, he’d been talking to Steve on his cell and had been bitching about Step-Stan’s horseback riding lessons.

Steve had freaked the fuck out when Dan had broken off mid-rant and let out a loud “What the fuck?!” before the clear sound of two cars colliding filled the line. Steve had been busy shouting Dan’s name as he twirled his hand, making Chin and Kono jump up and run toward their technology center, already triangulating Dan’s cell phone signal and calling up an ambulance and police backup to the scene. Steve had held his breath as he’d heard Dan’s soft groans and nearly shouted in relief when he’d heard Dan calling his name. But the reprieve had been short lived because seconds later Dan was telling someone to leave him alone and threatening bodily harm if they didn’t let go of him right the fuck now. By the time the cops and the ambulance had arrived at the scene, there had been no sign of Dan or his cell phone.

It was infuriating, but Danny and Chin had been right. It hadn’t been the wife, but the goddamn Yakuza, of all things, that had ordered the hit. It’d turned out that the CEO had been raising funds to buy out another company and had gotten in way over his head when the stock of his company plummeted and the Yakuza had decided to come and collect their money early. And of course, Dan had somehow managed to stumble on that critical link and had gone looking for evidence before bringing up his theory. He’d been taken just as he’d been on his way to let the team know about what he’d found.

It’d taken Steve, Chin, and Kono four days to put together the pieces of the puzzle that Danny had uncovered. Thank fuck for GPS tracking. They’d been able to retrace Dan’s steps and had thankfully been able to get a sense of what the man had been looking at when inspiration had struck him. From there, it had been a simple matter of twisting enough arms to make someone squeal about Williams’ location. And without their voice of reason to stop them, the three Hawaiians had had no qualms about shelving the Constitution – it hadn’t been about putting someone away; it had been about getting Danny back.

And now Steve was gritting his teeth as he checked the magazine one more time, making sure he had enough bullets to put one in each of these men’s heads. He looked to his right at Kono and signaled her that on three she was to cut right to try and make ground while he covered her. Then he looked to his left and saw Chin nod, assault rifle locked and ready. On his mark, Kono slipped away from her hiding place just as Steve and Chin popped up from behind theirs and rained down a spray of bullets. Steve smirked in pure satisfaction as a body hit the floor. Distantly, he could hear the sound of police sirens coming their way and knew it was only a matter of time now before they had the place surrounded.

“Give it up, Yahiko!” he shouted when there was a lull in the gunfire. “We’ve got the place surrounded!”

Steve instinctively ducked lower when a spray of bullets hit the top of his shield. God fucking damn it. He was getting fucking tired of this shit and all he wanted was to get his detective back! Finally out of patience, Steve peaked around the crate and, seeing his chance, rolled out if his hiding place and fire his gun, managing to hit the goon in the leg. It was just enough to get him to cry out in pain and drop his gun. In a heartbeat Kono was there, pointing her Kel Tec at the remaining Japanese man, growling at him to just give her one good reason.

Steve strode up to them and hauled the man up by his shirt, turning him around and smashing him against a crate. He didn’t even try to stop himself as he clocked the man in the face, watching in satisfaction as his fist tore the man’s lip open and blood dribbled from the corner of his mouth.

“Where is he?” he demanded as leaned over and practically growled in the man’s face. The man looked at him with a smug look in his eyes and spit the gathering blood in his mouth towards McGarrett. Steve dodged it and landed another a hit on the man’s face. “I said, where is he?”

“How should I know, Gaijin?” the Japanese sneered back. “Why don’t you try giving him a call?”

Steve narrowed his eyes and flung the man toward Chin, who caught him easily and manhandled him into handcuffs and towards the exit. Steve fished in his pocket for his cell phone and stared at it for a second before looking at Kono, who silently shrugged at him. What harm could it do to try? He unlocked the phone and hit Danno’s speed dial, putting the phone against his ear and waiting for it to connect. As soon as it started ringing he pulled it away and looked around the warehouse, straining to hear something, anything. For a few, tense seconds there was nothing and then Kono held up her hand.

“I think…” she stopped talking as she took a step forward. “Call him again. I think I heard something.”

“Chin! Get back in here!” Steve shouted even as he redialed Dan’s number.

He held his breath and silently followed Kono as she moved around the crates, head cocked to the side as she listened to something he couldn’t hear. He dialed Danno’s number twice more before he finally heard it. He let out a bark of laughter as he recognized the music. He was going to kill the man himself if he wasn’t already dead. He called the number one more time, and as he, Kono and Chin passed by a crate they heard the distinct thump of a foot kicking something from one of the crates a little to their left. They all ran toward the sound, knocking on the crates they passed. Just as Steve dialed the number one more time, he heard it coming from the crate in front of him and knocked on it, only to hear his knock echoed back by a thump.

“I found him! Get me a crow bar! And get the paramedics in here!” Steve shouted at Chin and Kono. “Danno? Can you hear me?”

A loud thump. Steve sagged in relief.

“We’re gonna get you out of there. Just hang on for another minute.”

Another thump. Thank God.

After that it was only a matter of minutes before Steve and Chin had managed to pry the crate open only to come face to face with a very pissed off looking Detective Danny Williams. Steve jumped over the top and into the crate and ripped off the duct tape covering Dan’s mouth in one swoop, wincing at the loud shout of pain that accompanied his action.

“Sorry,” Steve mumbled as he got to work on the zip-tie binding Dan’s hands. He was vaguely aware that Kono had jumped in as well and had pulled out her knife to cut the ties holding Danny’s feet together.

“Ow. Fuck. What the hell’s the matter with you?” Dan grunted as he waited for Steve to get his hands free.

“What’s the matter with me?” Steve asked incredulously. “What the matter with you?!” he shouted back. “Why the hell didn’t you wait for backup before nosing around a Yakuza hideout?”

“I didn’t know that’s what it was! I had a hunch, and I wanted to confirm it before I told you anything. And I called you as soon as I found out I was right,” Dan countered.

“Fat good that did me, Williams! You got yourself rammed by a car, kidnapped, beaten up and stuffed into a crate!”

Danno grinned. “But you found me.”

“Only because you have the most obnoxious ringtone in existence! Really man? Stayin’ Alive by the Bee Gees? That’s my ringtone now? You’re fucked in the head, you know that?” Steve complained even as he helped his partner into a sitting position so the paramedics could look him over.

“If the glove fits,” Dan sing-songed, eyes closed as he leaned his aching head against Steve’s chest.

“Unbelievable,” Steve grumbled, grinning stupidly at his partner.

 

3.

“This was a great idea, Boss,” Kono grinned as the trio got out of the car.

“I can’t even remember the last time I went to one of these,” Chin commented, grinning from ear to ear and obviously as enthused about the trip as his cousin.

“Yeah, well, let’s make sure to thank Grace for the idea once we find them,” Steve replied as he locked the car up and turned around to take in the view.

Straight ahead and swarming with people was the water park. From where they stood, Steve could easily make out at least four different water slides. He didn’t even bother to hide the childish grin he could feel break out on his face. God, it had been forever since he’d been able to do this.

His grin turned into a fond smile as he remembered Danny’s outright glee as he’d finished up early on Friday afternoon. At first, Steve had just chucked it up to Dan being excited for the weekend and his time with Grace, but the more he’d watched, the more he’d realized that this was a different kind of excitement than the one his partner usually exuded. Steve had narrowed his eyes as he’d continued to silently watch the blond, putting two and two together and coming up short.

“Okay, Danno. I give up. What’s up with you,” he’d finally caved after he’d realized the man was humming. Humming!

“Huh?” Bright blue eyes had looked up then, confused, but Steve wasn’t fooled.

“You’re practically glowing you’re so happy. If I didn’t know you had balls dangling between your legs I’d ask you if you were pregnant.”

“What–” Dan stared at him slack jawed. “What the hell’s matter with you?” he finally burst out, throwing his hands up in the air.

“What’s the matter with me? What’s the matter with you? You’re acting… weird.” Steve narrowed his eyes as he watch the blond sigh in exasperation. “Oh my god!” he exclaimed, eyes widening as a thought occurred to him. “You have a date!”

“What? No! I do not have a date!” Danny snapped back immediately. Steve sagged in relief. “Grace and I have plans,” the blond finished, tapping the last of the files against his desk and filing them in his inbox.

“Plans?” Steve asked, intrigued. “Whatcha two up to this weekend?”

Steve watched as a lazy smile spread across Dan’s lips and made him look ten years younger. “I’m taking her to a theme park.”

Steve perked up at that. “Theme park? Which one?”

“The water park in Kapolei.”

“Did somebody say water park?” Kono asked as she poked her head out of her office, her face the picture of innocence.

“Danny is taking Grace to Wet‘n’Wild,” Steve replied, ignoring the death glare he could feel burning a hole into his skull.

“The one in Kapolei?” Chin asked as he made his way to their little group.

“Yep,” Steve grinned.

“Awesome!” Kono grinned back. “Group outing!”

“Woah woah woah!” Danny interrupted them, hands up in the universal sign to slow down. “This is not a group outing! This is me taking my daughter to a water park. There is no ‘we’ here.”

“Aw, c’mon Danno!” Steve whined as he turned back toward his partner and pouted. “It’s not like we’d be interrupting! If anything, we can all take turns hanging out with Gracie, let you take a breather every once in a while.”

“No. This is going to be a father-daughter bonding experience. No extended family allowed,” Danny said, glaring at each and every one of the three police officers around him.

“But Dan–”

“No.” Dan waited a beat, ignoring the two pouts and one slightly indignant expression around him. When there was no further protest he nodded in satisfaction. “Good. See you guys on Monday.”

Steve waited until the door had been closed for five minutes before turning to look at the two other members of his team. “We all in?”

The twin set of teeth was confirmation enough.

“All right guys,” Steve clapped his hands as the trio got past the ticket entrance and made their way to the lockers. We’ve got a family of two to find! Fan out and the first one to spot them calls them in!”

Steve smiled as the two cousins gave him a lazy salute and headed off in different directions. He stood his ground for a minute longer and pulled out his cell phone. He’d try calling Danno first, even though he wasn’t really expecting him to pick it up. And sure enough the phone rang its three times and then went to voicemail. Deciding to go about this the hard way, Steve made his way out of the locker room and into the crowd of people.

Twenty minutes later had him standing in by the Keiki Cove, sighing as he looked around the crowded park. There was no way he was going to be able to find Danno and Grace in the throng of people lining up at each of the different rides. He’d tried calling him again but the phone had gone to voicemail, and now he felt a little overwhelmed and unsure about where he should start his search. Give him a murdering asshole to catch and he could deliver the bastard handcuffed in a jiffy, but put him in the middle of an everyday crowded place and he was back to being six years old and alone in a crowded supermarket.

He never did let his father live that one down.

Well, he was now a detective for a reason. He’d just have to detect. If he was Danny, and he was in a water park with a seven year old girl, where would he be? Steve paused his thought process. Okay, no, that was the wrong thing to ask. Take two: if he was a seven year old girl who had her father wrapped around his little finger, what would he convince said father to let him do? Steve pondered the question as he surveyed the nearby attractions and felt the metaphorical light bulb turn on as he spotted the restaurant alcove. The answer to the query, of course, was to convince said father to let him eat the most amount of junk food possible.

Satisfied, Steve made his way around to the stores and pulled out his cell phone again. Now that he was closer to where he thought Williams might be, it was entirely possible that the man did have his cell phone with him and had just been ignoring McGarrett’s calls. If he could hear the phone ring, he might just be able to find his elusive partner and his daughter. Speed dialing the number he now knew by heart, he stopped at the entrance of the bustling outside café and scanned the area.

Nothing.

Grumbling, he started to make his way forward and speed dialed Danno’s phone again. He paused momentarily as the chords to Macho Man sounded nearby. No. He wouldn’t dare. At his ear, the phone went to voicemail just as the song stopped playing. There was no way that little shit would dare – He dialed again and again he heard the chorus to Macho Man, but this time he also very clearly heard a familiar, plaintive voice saying “Danno! Just pick up!”

Steve glared at the direction of the voice and made his way around bustling patrons until he finally spotted them sitting at a table eating pizza and sharing a helping of nachos. Determined now, he slowly made his way to them, making sure to stay behind Danny’s line of sight.

“No, Grace,” Dan said forcefully as he shoved the pizza in his mouth.

“But it could be important! It’s like, the third time in a minute that he’s called you,” the girl said, big brown eyes staring at her father.

“Gracie, this is you and me time. I’m not picking up the phone.”

“Then why are you keeping it with you if you’re not going to pick it up?” the girl pointed out.

“In case there’s an emergency,” Dan replied.

“But how will you know if you don’t pick it up?” she countered.

“It’s in case there’s an emergency with you and I need to use the phone.”

Steve caught Gracie’s eyes just as the girl was about the sass back at her father and put his finger to his lips before she could shout his name. He watched, pleased, as the seven year old turned back to her father and crossed her arms in front of her in a clearly indignant gesture.

“But what if there’s an emergency with Steve? What if something happened to Kono or Uncle Chin? You wouldn’t know because you refuse to pick it up!” she reasoned.

Dan sighed in the face of the miniature force of nature that was his daughter. “Fine. The next time he calls, I’ll pick it up. Happy?”

“Very,” she nodded, satisfied.

Steve gave Grace two thumbs up and dialed Dan’s number again. This time, the chorus to Macho Man rang loud and clear and Steve bit his lip as Grace put her out her thumb and pinky near her face in the universal gesture of a phone as Dan picked up his phone and glared at it.

“Williams,” Dan answered.

“Nice ringtone, Danno,” Steve said, barely able to contain his glee.

Dan whipped around at the sound of the voice and came face to face with precisely the last person he wanted to see on his day off with Grace. “God fucking damn it, McGarrett! Do you not know the meaning of the word ‘no’?”

“Daddy!” Gracie shouted, horrified.

“Sorry, sweetie,” Dan apologized, turning back to his daughter and ruffling her hair. “Pretend you didn’t hear that.”

“After you mentioned the water park, Kono and Chin really wanted to come,” Steve shrugged. “I just tagged along as their ride. God only knows where they are now.”

Dan sighed and covered his face with his hand. “Fine! Fine! I know when I’m outnumbered,” the blond groaned. “Go ahead and let them know where we are.”

“Yay!” Grace exclaimed. “Can I call them, Steve? Please, please, please!” she begged as she got up and rounded the table to stand by the ex-NAVY seal.

“Sure, sweetie. Here you go. Have fun messing with their heads,” Steve said as he tossed her his phone and watched as she went back to her seat across her father and called up the other two officers.

“You’re ruining her,” Danno complained as he watched, horrified, as his daughter pretended to be some random woman who had found the phone and proceeded to scare the fuck out of Chin Ho.

“Me? What about you? Putting Macho Man as my ringtone. You’re going to give her the wrong idea, Danno,” Steve said as he sat down next to his partner.

“And what idea is that?”

“She’s going to start thinking you like me,” he grinned as he bumped his shoulder with the New Jersey cop, who quickly retaliated by punching him in the shoulder as hard as he could.

 

4.

Steve dared a glance at Danny, who had been sitting silently next to him since they’d gotten into the Camaro. He waited a few seconds and glanced at him again, frowning at the continued silence. He could see the blond’s teeth clenching and unclenching, the frown drawing crow’s feet around his eyes. Steve winced internally and tried to prepare himself; this was going to be explosive.

“Danno,” he ventured, risking another glance.

Dan lifted his left arm with his index finger out and made an indecipherable noise from the back of his throat. Steve sighed and ran his hand over his face but kept quiet. The silence that descended was thick and tense and made Steve squirm in his seat and clench his hands around the steering wheel. He didn’t think he’d done anything wrong this time, but with Dan’s sense of right and wrong, who the fuck knew? Everything was so black and white with his partner sometimes that it was hard to know when he’d stopped toeing the line and had not only crossed it but started doing the Macarena as well.

“Thank you,” Dan said as he brought his arm down to rest it on his knee. Steve started and nearly drove the car off the road in his surprise. “Whoa!” Dan yelled out, one hand going for the dashboard and the other holding on to the handlebar. “What the hell’s the matter with you?”

“Sorry! Sorry!” Steve apologized as he rightened the car and slowed down so he was only going ten miles over the speed limit. “I just wasn’t…” he paused, unsure if he wanted to go where he was about to go.

“Wasn’t what?” Danny asked curiously, his right hand letting go of the handlebar and going back to his knee, clenching it.

Steve bit his lower lip for a moment and sighed as he spied what Dan was doing. “I was expecting you to blow up at me.”

A soft snort made its way past Dan’s lips at that. “With the stunt you pulled, I should be yelling at you. But… You saved my life, so thanks.”

“Is this part and parcel with the rule that I have to apologize if I get you shot?”

“This is part and parcel with the rule that you thank the person who saved your life.”

“Ah.”

“Just… Don’t do it again,” Dan continued. Steve glanced sideways and saw blue eyes looking at him, a frown firmly set into his features.

“Danno,” Steve whined.

“No. I mean it, Steve. Next time, do not take a two story leap in the hopes that the guy you’re jumping on will absorb the shock and prevent any bones from breaking.”

Steve glanced at his partner again and frowned. “If I hadn’t done that he would have shot you in the back.”

“It’s called yelling out a warning, McGarrett.”

“Are you kidding me? You really think me yelling ‘Danny, behind you!’ would have made a difference?” Steve shouted, his temper getting the better of him as the image of Dan, lying on the ground, bleeding, came into his mind.

“Because jumping to your death is a much better plan!” Dan yelled back, hand turning white as he gripped his knee tightly.

“Danno,” Steve said softly, glancing at his partner again.

“Just… Stop talking.”

“Dan, what’s wrong–”

“Did I say you could talk?”

“So that’s the extent of your good graces? You thank me and we’re back to square one?” Steve asked, worried and pissed off. There was something wrong with Dan’s knee and he was damned if he wouldn’t get it out of the man. “Have you been taking your anti-inflammatory?”

“What?” Dan asked, taken aback by the question.

“If you grip your knee any tighter it’s going to fall off,” Steve pointed out. From the corner of his eyes he saw Dan glance down at his hand and slowly release the death grip he had on the knee. “What’s wrong with it?”

“I don’t know. I think I twisted it or something when I side stepped Rogers,” Dan replied, leaning his head against the window.

“Do you need me to take you to the doc’s?”

Dan sighed. “No. I’ll just need to take an extra dose of the meds and stay off of it for the next day or two. If it’s not better by then I’ll call the doc.”

Steve bit his lip for a second, watching Dan warily. “I think you should stay at my place,” he finally blurted out before he could change his mind.

“What?” Dan asked, practically turning his whole body toward Steve.

“Well, if you stay over, you can just crash on the couch or in the guest room and not have to move. I can take the day off, and do some paperwork from home, and we could watch that movie you wanted to see. What was it again?” Steve rambled, refusing to look at his partner.

“Men who stare at goats,” Dan replied automatically. “No. Wait. What?” he asked again as he continued to stare at Steve.

“Well, huh, you know. Just so there’d be someone there in case you overdose… Or something…” Steve finally trailed off, aware he sounded completely demented.

“I don’t need a babysitter,” Danny growled, hand going back to gripping his knee.

Steve raised his right hand and scrunched his shoulders. “No, no. You’re right. Sorry. It was a stupid idea anyway. Forget I said anything. Actually, I have no idea why I even suggested it. Totally, completely–”

“Christ, do you ever just shut up?” Dan burst out. “Just… gimme a second, would you?” he demanded as he covered his face with his hand.

Steve glanced at Danny again as the man fell silent next to him. He had no idea what he was doing, inviting Danno like that. It was totally ridiculous and dumb, but he just couldn’t stand the thought of his friend, his partner, staying in that dump hole he called an apartment, doped up on painkillers and anti-inflammatory with no one to make sure he was still breathing. He wringed his hand on the steering wheel nervously and did his best to not glance over at Dan again.

Steve tensed when Dan let out a breathy sigh and put his hand back down. “All right. Fine,” the blond finally said. “But I need to grab some stuff from my place first.”

“Really?” Steve asked, surprised that he’d actually agreed. “Just like that?”

“Yes, Steve. Just like that,” Dan sighed. Steve glanced over and took note of the frown lines, tense shoulders, and the death grip Dan had on his knee and made a mental note to call the doc behind his partner’s back. You could never be too cautious or paranoid with these things.

“Great. Let’s swing by your place and then we’ll just go back to mine. Do you need anything else? You have enough meds?”

Dan smiled slightly at the obvious concern coming from his partner. Steve might be a psychotic asshole, but he took care of his own.

“I’m good. I’m just going to let Rachel know I won’t be able to pick up Grace from school tomorrow,” he said as he reached into his pocket. He paused, confused when he didn’t feel his cell phone. He patted the other side of his pocket and when that failed to produce the desired result he started patting down his entire body.

“What’s wrong?” Steve asked, a little alarmed.

“Fuck! Goddamn it!” Dan yelled, banging his hand on the dashboard in frustration.

“What?” Steve asked again.

“I can’t find my fucking phone. I think it might have fallen out of my pocket at the warehouse.” Dan hit the dashboard again.

“Okay, hold on,” Steve replied, taking out his phone and hitting a number without even looking at it. He held the phone to his ear and waited. Dan watched him warily, wondering what the hell the man was doing now.

“Kono?” Steve asked. “Hey! Great!” he continued. Dan stared at him and wished, not for the first time, that he had super hearing. “Why are you–” Steve sighed. “Well, it can’t be worse than the last one,” he said.

Dan waved at him from the passenger seat, trying to get him to start telling him what the hell he was going on about. Steve made a shushing motion with his hand.

“All right, fine, tell me. I’m just gonna want to know now,” Steve grumbled. There was long pause and then Steve let out a really loud snort and nearly drove the car off the side of the road as he tipped his head back to let out a really loud laugh. “Oh god! That’s actually a good one. And not even for the reasons you think it is,” Steve told her gleefully. “Get your mind out of the gutter, you perv.” Dan’s eyes widened at that and he nearly hit Steve in the arm to get his attention to demand he tell him what the fuck was going on. “I’ll tell you the story another time, Kono. I gotta go. And I’ll let him know,” he finished before disconnecting the phone.

“What the hell was that about?” Dan demanded as soon as the call disconnected. “What the hell were you laughing about?”

Steve let out a little snicker before unsuccessfully schooling his face. “So, Kono has your cell phone.”

“Yeah? Excellent! She found it at the crime scene?” Dan asked, relieved he hadn’t lost his baby with all those custom made ring– Oh. “Oh,” he said.

“I hope you keep that one, Danno. It’s very flattering,” Steve said, a small smirk playing at his lips.

“Shut up.”

“Of course, the only problem is that you got the agency wrong,” Steve continued as if Dan hadn’t opened his mouth.

“No, seriously, stop talking.”

“James Bond wasn’t with the U.S. Navy. But I approve of the song choice. It’s a really good one. And we all know I can pull off the look if need be. Unlike some,” Steve teased, a smile playing at his lips.

“I hate you. I hate you so much,” Dan growled.

“Yeah, I love you too, Danno.”

 

5.

Steve glanced around the crowded beach with equal parts wonder and confusion. He’d been out shopping at the International Market when he’d literally bumped into Rachel. To say the moment had been awkward would be an understatement. And then from behind him Steve had heard a loud, girly squeal and had felt the solid mass of a seven year old slam into his legs and arms wrap around them. He’d contorted himself until he’d been able to see the top of Grace’s head; he wouldn’t have been able to stop his smile even if he’d tried.

“Hi Gracie,” he’d said, watching as a pair of big brown laughing eyes looked up at him.

“Hi, Uncle Steve! I didn’t think I’d get to see you this weekend!” Grace had exclaimed, tightening her grip around his legs.

Steve had looked at Rachel, unsure how Danny’s ex would take to him being called ‘Uncle Steve’ with capital letters, but unlike her husband, she betrayed nothing. Figuring that the cat was out of the bag now, Steve somehow managed to twist around enough to grab Grace under her arms and lift her up into his arms so she was at eye level with him. He was taken aback when the girl wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed in a hug

“And – ” He cleared his suddenly dry throat. “And why wouldn’t you see me this weekend? It’s Danno’s weekend, isn’t it? You guys aren’t going to come over?”

“Dan and I agreed to switch this week,” Rachel said before Grace could open her mouth.

“Oh?” Steve had asked, looking between Rachel and a pouting Grace.

“Mutual friends are flying through from Asia, and this is the only day they’ll be on the island,” Rachel had shrugged. “So I told Dan not to worry about it and that he could have Grace for two extra days next week.”

Steve had raised his eyebrow in surprise at that. He wasn’t used to Rachel doing Danny any favors, and this seemed like a pretty huge fucking favor. He ignored the little girl in his arms for a moment to stare at the brunette in front of him, narrowing his eyes and knowing that if Dan were here, he’d be saying that Steve had on his aneurysm face. He watched as Rachel’s perfect eyebrow went up and she cocked her head to the side.

“Has anyone ever told you that you pull the weirdest faces?” she asked, and just as soon as straightened and turned scarlet as she put her hand on her mouth.

“Actually, your ex-husband does every minute of every day that he’s next to me,” Steve said, smirking. “So… friends?”

Rachel had shrugged again and waved her hand near her face in the same way that Dan did when he was thinking about how to explain a very simple concept in a very elaborate and unnecessarily convoluted manner.

“It’s Nicolas and Mario. They’re from New Jersey!” Grace had said, tired of waiting for her mom to get on with it. “They used to work with Danno.”

“Dan took them to see the sights, hang out at the beach,” Rachel had continued. “You know, the touristy things.”

Steve had blinked. “The beach?”

Rachel had grinned conspiratorially at that. “Last I heard, he’d said something about Waikiki.”

“Waiki – ” Steve had had to pause at that, his brain on overload. “Are you shi– hum, kidding me?” he’d amended, remembering at the last moment the little girl in his arms. “Danny hates Waikiki.”

“But it’s Nicolas and Mario!” Grace had said emphatically, her hold on Steve tightening. “And he wouldn’t even let me tag along,” she’d finished, pouting pathetically.

“Now, Grace Williams,” Rachel had admonished her daughter. “That’s unfair to your father. He hasn’t seen Nicolas and Mario in months, and he only has a few hours to spend with them.”

“But I like spending time with them!” Grace had whined.

“Grace,” Rachel had said with the finality of a mother who had heard enough.

Steve had stayed silent during the argument, transfixed and getting more curious by the second as to who Nicolas and Mario were to the Williams. It hadn’t escaped him that Rachel hadn’t said their last names yet, as if she knew that as soon as Steve had that information he’d be pulling up all the files he could get on the two men.

“If you want to try and find him, I’d recommend looking for a group of people playing beach volleyball,” Rachel had said as she stepped up to Steve and held her arms out for her daughter.

“Beach volleyball?” Steve had repeated dumbly as he’d let Grace earn her nickname and go to her mother’s arms. “Danny plays beach volleyball?”

“Only with the right people,” Rachel had grinned. “It was nice to see you, Commander McGarrett.”

“Bye, Steve! See you next week!” Grace had waved.

Steve had raised his hand up in a quick wave and before he’d had the chance to ask anything else, they were gone, lost amidst the throngs of tourists and native shoppers. He’d stood there, momentarily frozen, his mind stuck on Waikiki and beach volleyball for a few seconds and without conscious thought his body made a sharp turnabout and he headed back to his car, determined to go try to find Danny and see if Rachel was right. Because if she was, it meant that Danny had willingly gone to the beach to do something that could only be done at the beach.

And so there he was now, hand shielding his eyes from the glaring sun, looking through the throngs of people crammed into the little stretch of beach. There were two different groups playing volleyball that Steve could see from his position, but neither of them was the right one. Resigned that he’d have to wander around for a bit in his search, Steve took off his sandals and stepped onto the beach, sighing softly and wiggling his toes in the smooth sand. He’d missed this more than he cared to admit during his time serving in the Navy, and to be able now to just take a moment and enjoy the fine rocks tickling his toes never got old.

Thirty minutes later found him at a shaved ice stand with red tinged cheeks and sweat dampening his shirt and making it stick to his chest. He hadn’t planned on spending time out in the sun today and now he was paying for it. He also hadn’t had any luck finding one Daniel Williams and he was just about ready to give up. He figured one more search of beach and then he was going to go home and slather on aloe vera before he developed second degree burns. He might like to give Williams shit about his obsession with sunscreen, but the man was right; having white skin sucked.

He’d just stuffed his hand in his pocket to grab his wallet to pay for his shaved ice when he felt his phone and had a light bulb moment. Quickly making his way back the way he’d come from, he stopped at the threshold of the beach and speed dialed Danny’s phone. Holding it away from his ear, he looked around, concentrating on hearing the James Bond theme song. When it didn’t work, he grumbled a little bit and started redialing Danny’s number, all the while keeping an ear out for his ringtone.

Just as he’d been ready to finally admit defeat, he thought he’d heard something and stopped dead in his tracks. It wasn’t the song he’d been looking for, and it wasn’t something that he immediately recognized, but there was something to it that had called his attention; he just couldn’t place what it was. Baffled, Steve redialed Danny’s number and just as soon as it connected, he heard the soft music again. Entranced, he followed it until he got to a pile of clothes with a volleyball thrown on carelessly on top of it. Not recognizing any of the items as Danny’s, Steve looked around to see if he could spot his partner, unsure whether his hunch had been correct or not. Redialing the familiar number one last time, Steve grinned maniacally when he finally heard his new ringtone loud and clear.

Having finally decided that some of the things were definitely Danny’s, he crouched down and started rummaging through the clothes, looking for the sunscreen bottle he just knew the other man would have brought with him. Sure enough, he found the SPF 50 buried under the clothes and commandeered it for himself, taking off his shirt so he could lather a generous layer on his face and chest. He then sat down next to the pile of clothes and made himself comfortable to wait out his partner and his friends.

He congratulated himself on his timing when, after a few minutes, he saw a group of three men, one of whom was significantly shorter than the other two, making their way towards him. He could feel his eyebrows go up when he saw that all three people were wet, and couldn’t stop his smirk when the shortest of them stopped in his track as soon as Steve and the pile of clothes were in viewing range.

This was going to be awesome.

“You!” Dan shouted as he regained control of his body and practically sprinted to where Steve had been waiting for him. “How did you – Why are you – ”

“Hi, Danno!” Steve smirked.

“Do not call me that!” Dan shrieked, his face turning an unhealthy shade of red.

Steve pushed himself up and watched the two men standing behind Danny share a look he couldn’t decipher. “So, Danno,” Steve said, ignoring Danny’s sputtering, “You going to introduce us?”

“No,” Dan said petulantly, crossing his arms over his chest. “You’re not supposed to be here. You’re not supposed to even know that I’m here! How did you know that I was here?”

“I bumped into Rachel,” Steve shrugged. “She was kind enough to impart the information with me.”

“She would, that traitor,” Dan groused, blue eyes narrowing to glare at Steve.

“I’m Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett,” Steve said as he side-stepped Danny and extended his hand to one of the men. “I’m Danno’s partner on the task force.”

“Nicolas Patelo,” the man replied, accepting Steve’s hand and giving it a firm squeeze. “And this is my partner, Mario Ramirez.” Steve smiled as he shook the other man’s hand, filing the last names away so he could look them up later. “We used to work with Dan back in New Jersey PD.”

“And that’s all you need to know,” Dan said, stepping in between Steve and his friends. “Now, what are you doing here? And how did you find us?”

Steve grinned. “Rachel said something about you and the beach and volleyball. I had to see it for myself.”

“And…” Dan glared, waving his hand in an impatient circle.

“Now now, Goose. Is that any way to treat your partner?” Steve leered, aware he was enjoying this way too much.

“Oh God,” Danny groaned, putting his hand over his face.

“You know, I didn’t think it was possible for you choose something better than James Bond, but this one is not only awesome, but also the right branch of the military.”

“Stop it. Please.”

“Of course, Maverick wasn’t SEAL, but nobody’s perfect.”

“No, seriously. Stop talking now.”

“Hey, does this mean that from now on, my code name is Maverick? Because, I have to admit Danno, I like the sound of that.”

“First of all, no. As in, capital N, capital O. Second of all, I am not Goose. Goose dies in the movie! That’s just jinxing it, McGarrett!”

“So you can be Ice Man. I have no problem with that. Val Kilmer was awesome.”

“Fuck my life,” Danny groaned as Steve grinned and Danny’s friends lifted an eyebrow each at the unfolding scene.

Yep. So. Much. Fun.


End file.
